Deep depression with comprehensive analysis

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26/F
I have been battling the deepest depression of my life during the past few months. What brought this on was extreme overworking and stress overload. . . I also discovered that I have Asperger's Syndrome. I have no energy and I feel quite hopeless. I consider myself lucky as I am married, have a home, some family, a couple friends and I run my own business. One area that I do not have a lot of strength is in my confidence and assertiveness. Though I do have "everything" I need I still have a very hard time with my emotions. I was doing some browsing online and I came across the term "Avoidance Personality Disorder" and I was shocked. It really summed up the way my anxiety forces me to act and react. I was quite terrified to think I had a personality disorder. The more I looked into it the term AS seemed to be a better fit. I have a lot of social phobia and anxiety, I have horrible light and smell sensitivity, I have a very low pain tolerance, I have a hard time keeping up with people in conversations (normally when 3+ people are present,) I have lost multiple friends in my life for no reason that I could think of, I have very limited interests but no obsessions, I've never identified with my peers, was friends with boys mainly through elementary school, I got through school without studying but once I reached college I couldn't handle it.

I know this is a random list but I wanted to point out some qualities I thought identified me as possibly AS.

I went to a therapist who works only with high functioning autistics and through a couple of interview she diagnosed me with Level 1. I took this to a therapist I used to see years ago and she was totally adament that it was wrong. I followed her advice and got a comprehensive psychological analysis from a psychologist. He found me to have bipolar II, severe GAD, Social phobia, ADHD inattentive and avoidant personality disorder. His main reason for staying away from the AS diagnosis was as he stated that I show empathy and I have normal social interaction abailities. He said that what I feel as a lacking in that area is simply from my anxiety and ruminations telling me how awkward I am. He said I have the capacity to interact normally and my anxiety stops me.

Please tell me any thoughts on this or similar experiences.

One thing people should keep in mind: Asperger's is a highly-subjective thing.

You seem to have lots going for you, despite how you feel. You have the wherewithal, for example to continue to pursue your own business. I would take personal pride in that.

I would continue to use your support-system as scaffolding, so I would be able to climb, easily, out of my abyss.

I believe you'll be able to beat your depression (and, perhaps, to learn from it).